Stick with me here, because I'm about to say something that could be contentious: there is a comparison to be made between dogs and small kids. They are both needy and entirely dependent on their caretakers, with a tendency for causing trouble where they shouldn't. Also, they both struggle with being accepted for who they are by certain parts of society.
However, that's where the similarity ends. Many would argue that it is in bad taste to equate a small human to one of our furry friends, but that doesn't stop certain people from doing that. Not everyone is willing to give grace to children.
The unpredictability of both parties can make for some awkward moral dilemmas, as has been underlined by a recent Twitter controversy. When one woman took to the platform to complain about how she had been forced to block a toddler from trying to touch her dog, not everybody was in agreement about how she had approached the situation. Both the parents and the dog owner had a responsibility here, and it appears that neither of them handled it that well.